Buncombe County is excited to announce the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 is now available.

The ACFR offers an in-depth analysis of Buncombe’s financial process and contains an independent auditor’s report from the audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

Go to the full report.

We invite you to come downtown and experience one or more temporary installations from the Art in the Heart program. Share your thoughts on the artwork by clicking on the second tab below. Art in the Heart is a temporary art program specifically designed to help stimulate conversations about themes like identity, community, inclusion, healing, unity, and resilience. It’s also a way to start conversations about how public spaces can, or don’t, help reflect or express a community’s past, present, and future.

You can find more background and information about the Pack Square Visioning Project here.

Asheville Asks: How do I get an issue addressed or find out about services in my neighborhood?

Our new Neighborhood Resources web page is a “one-stop-shop” resource to answer residents’ questions, from development projects to trash pick up. 

This webpage gives you quick access links to some of the most frequently requested community resources and information.

Residents have a variety of questions and opportunities to get involved, and having the answers and information all in one place empowers residents to stay informed and help the City make improvements that the community wants to see.

The Neighborhood Resources web page can be accessed at ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoodresources.

Did we miss something? Let us know how we can improve this page by contacting us at [email protected].

From 11/15 – 12/31, we’re offering a Holiday Special on our subscriptions! Get tickets at a discounted price, AND get a free ticket voucher for our next play, Native Gardens! Check our website on 11/15 to purchase this limited-time deal!

The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

It’s the Season for Giving Join us in helping to ensure members of the WNC community have enough nutritious food to eat this holiday season. In partnership with MANNA Food Bank, we’re hosting a holiday food drive and requesting donations of healthy, non-perishable food items as well as personal hygiene products. Donations will be delivered to MANNA, weighed, and distributed to those in need. Collection barrels are set up inside the lobbies of REI Co-op and Regal Biltmore Grande through December 19th.

The Buncombe County Health Promotions Team requests feedback from residents to help inform strategies to improve our health priorities. Over the summer, Buncombe County’s latest Community Health Assessment was released. With the help of key informant surveys, community listening sessions, and existing data, the following health conditions were selected as a focus priority for the next three years: Birth Outcomes, Mental Health and Substance Misuse, and Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes).

We are now requesting community input to inform strategic planning for the upcoming Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The survey results will be used to determine how and what our community can do to address and improve Buncombe County’s health priorities. Let your voice be heard by taking the One Key Question Survey! All responses are anonymous.

We need participation from residents of Buncombe County to help us create a healthier community for everyone. Your response to the One Key Question Survey is essential to make Buncombe County a better place to call home.

So here’s the One Key Question:

What is the most important thing for you and your family’s health and well-being?

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER

Once you are finished answering our survey, spend a few minutes exploring the many functions of the page. You can track responses from other locals, read about our assessment process, and learn how we use your answers to create community change. Be sure to check the page regularly to stay current on our new surveys, meeting schedules, process updates, and more.

We’ve got so many reasons to give thanks! In each of our program areas, we see ordinary people taking heroic action to protect our home from the pressures of a changing climate.   This year-end, we’re highlighting stories that inspired us and sharing how we’re planting seeds to create a climate-resilient future for all of us.   With our native pollinators, more is more. The more habitat we plant, the more easily our native pollinators can find shelter and food, the more resilient they become to the challenges posed by pesticides and extreme heat—the more stable our entire food ecosystem becomes.

• Donate $25+ and get a day pass to the WNC Nature Center.
• Donate $50+ and get an animal sticker and a day pass.
• Donate $100+ and get an animal tracks necklace, animal sticker, and a day pass.
• Donate $250+ and get a a guided tour of the Nature Center with animal enrichment for two people, plus the necklace, sticker, and day pass. PLUS, you’ll be entered to win a chance to go on habitat with red pandas Leafa and Phoenix in 2023!

the City of Hendersonville will begin their fall bulk leaf collection service for City residents. Bulk leaf collection will continue throughout the fall season and conclude on December 30.

During bulk leaf collection, City residents should pile loose leaves as close to the street, curb, or sidewalk as possible without placing the leaves in the roadway or on the sidewalk. Leaves should not be bagged by City of Hendersonville residents.

Residents can help prevent safety hazards by keeping leaf piles out of the sidewalks. Obstructed sidewalks may force people to walk into the street and pose a danger for pedestrians and motorists. Keeping leaf piles out of the roadways and sidewalks also helps prevent debris from being washed into the storm drains which can cause flooding.

The bulk leaf collection process is separate from brush collection crews; therefore, residents will need to keep their brush and leaves in separate piles until bulk leaf collection has concluded at the end of the year. Leaf piles should be free of tree limbs or other objects that may damage collection equipment. Spring bulk leaf collection typically occurs during the month of March.

It is not necessary for the public to contact Public Works with leaf pick-up requests as this service is automatically provided to City residents. Leaf piles are picked up from homes every ten to fourteen days but, depending on the volume of leaves placed out for collection, the piles could be picked up sooner or later than that time frame.

Oral History Resources

 

Why Oral History?

 

 

“You don’t have to be famous for your life to be history.” -Nell Sigmon

 

 

The words above serve as the unofficial motto of the Southern Oral History Program, a project that has inspired and guided the development of Buncombe County Public Libraries’ oral history collecting initiatives.

 

 

History doesn’t just live in public records, letters, maps, or photographs. Many people aren’t well-represented in documented history, especially those that have been historically excluded from power or property.

 

 

Oral histories gives people the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words and allow their voices to endure through times. Oral histories fill in the gaps of the historical record, and deepen our comprehension of the past and present by showing us how lives are experienced on an individual level.

 

 

Through conducting, facilitating, and collecting oral histories, we hope to help bond generations, build understanding, and strengthen community.

 

 

Oral History Backpack Loan Program

 

 

You can now check out an oral history backpack from Buncombe County Public Libraries!

 

 

Call your local library or 828-250-4740 to request a backpack. You will receive a phone call when the backpack is ready to be picked up. There is no cost to borrow a backpack!

 

 

Your oral history backpack will include everything you need (and more) to record a successful oral history interview, and (if you choose) to donate the recording to a collection where it can be made available to the public and preserved for future generations. Donating your oral history recording is not a requirement of checking out a backpack. Accepted donations must meet specific donation conditions and criteria; see “Donating Oral History Recordings” below.

 

 

Borrowing Rules and Procedures

 

 

• Only one backpack may be checked out per household at a time.
• Borrowers must be 18 years or older, with a Buncombe County library card in good standing.
• The loan period is four weeks.
• Backpacks can be picked up at any Buncombe County library.
• Backpacks must be returned during normal library operating hours, either inside or using curbside service. NO OUTSIDE DROP BOX returns.
• Files must be saved by the borrower before returning. All data on returned devices will be deleted and may not be recovered.
• Backpacks will be considered lost when 10 days overdue. The charge for lost items is: voice recorder $100; backpack $30; headphones $20; microSD card, adapters, windscreen, or hard-shell cases $10 each.

 

 

Forms and Documents

For borrowers:

• Borrower Agreement (must be signed when checking out a backpack)
• Oral History Manual (includes list of backpack inventory, guidelines, and basic tech guide)
• Video Instructions [COMING SOON]
• Oral History Question Cards (ideas to get you started)
• H1n Handy Recorder Quick Start Guide & Safety Manual
• H1n Handy Recorder Complete Operation Manual

We have curated a selection of amazing raffle prizes to raise funds for our growing non-profit and the rollout of our sliding scale pricing for the 2023 Spring Conference! All you need to do to enter is donate $10 to Organic Growers School! Every $10 entry gets you one ticket. The winner will be picked December 30th.   This gift basket is valued at $395 and includes: A special breakfast set from East Fork Pottery consisting of two Tracksmith mugs and two Utah breakfast bowls from East Fork Pottery. Two cases (24 – 8oz cans) of your choice flavor Buchi Kombucha. Pantry items from Mother Earth Foods @motherearthfoods, which include: Dynamite Coffee, the Well Seasoned Table Mountain Sunset Tea, Big Spoon Roasters Maple Cinnamon peanut & pecan butter, Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon Blueberry Burbon Jam Four different varieties of tea from Asheville Tea Company $75 worth of Gardening supplies from Fifth Season

Downtown Hendersonville
Peppermint Bear takes you on a fun-filled bear hunt in downtown Hendersonville in search of her lost cubs. Hint: the cubs are hiding in downtown businesses.

Once you have found a lost cub in at least 12 of 26 participating businesses and the shopkeeper has punched your brochure, you are eligible to win scavenger hunt prizes. Complete the entry form in the brochure and drop it in Peppermint’s mailbox in front of the Welcome Center, by Dec. 23.

For more details about the Scavenger Hunt, watch this video or stop by the Welcome Center at 201 South Main Street. Peppermint Bear Scavenger Hunt brochures are available at the Hendersonville Welcome Center.

Organic Growers School is seeking experienced farmer mentors. OGS has three ways we offer mentorship to beginning farmers, through our year-long farmer training, Farm Beginnings, Journeyperson Program, and our Mentor Services. Students receive 15 hours of mentorship from February to September/November, a mix of in-person and remote support. Each farmer is provided with a $500 honorarium upon completion of mentorship.   If you are interested, please fill out the application so we have the information to let me know if you would be a good fit to be a mentor and what you are interested in mentoring on.  Please feel free to share this with other farmers. This year, we will need many farmers to serve our diverse student body in Farm Beginnings, particularly seeking experienced Black, Indigenous, and Farmers of Color and any who may speak Spanish. Thank you!

The Magnetic Theatre announces its 2023 Mainstage Season of new plays with tickets on sale beginning January 1st, and begins scheduling auditions and interviews for actors and technicians.

The Magnetic Theatre’s Mainstage Season begins with HappyLand, a new rock opera by Brayden Dickerson and Zach Knox of Smooth Goose.  The musical tells the tale of a delivery person who doesn’t quite fit into the titular town of HappyLand. Forced to make one last delivery before the vacation they have been dreaming of, our hero embarks on an epic journey to SadLand, falls in love, and maybe even saves the world.  Full of toe-tappin’ tunes and fantastic adventure, HappyLand launches February 10th and runs through February 25th.

Beginning April 14th and running through April 29th, join us for the regional premiere of Fish, by Cyndi Williams.  When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy, and the present.

Next up, June 2nd through 17th, take your seats and pay attention to Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf, by Charles Payne.  This choreopoem, inspired by the work of Ntozake Shange, is an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system. The play features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original tracks by composer Richard Jones.

Then, August 4th through 13th, The Magnetic Theatre’s One Act Play Festival returns for its fourth year of short plays.  Featuring a variety of stories, emerging and seasoned playwrights, local directors, and incredible performers, there’s sure to be something for everyone!  Playwrights may submit one act scripts for consideration throughout the month of February.

Ushering in the spooky season, October 6th through 21st brings The Splatter Play by Abby Auman.  It’s the day of the open house for Tina’s childhood home, which also happens to be her deceased mother’s evil laboratory. Determined to turn the terrors of the lab into selling points, Tina and her optimistic realtor parade a cast of unsavory potential buyers through the home, tormented all the while by the resident creepies and crawlies who aren’t quite as ready to move on as Tina would hope. *Note: there will be blood, so much blood.

Finally, as 2023 comes to a close, The Magnetic Theatre proudly presents New Queer’s Eve. December 1st through 16th, join us for a look at the year’s last holiday through a new lens. New Queer’s Eve takes place in one location over multiple New Year’s Eve celebrations and provides a glimpse into the LGBTQIA+ experience through time. Through interconnected stories told by a collaboration of queer writers, New Queer’s Eve invites audiences to share in the joys and struggles of queer life through the decades.

Make A Wish Come True This Holiday Season

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Buncombe County is excited to announce the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 is now available.

The ACFR offers an in-depth analysis of Buncombe’s financial process and contains an independent auditor’s report from the audit firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

Go to the full report.

We invite you to come downtown and experience one or more temporary installations from the Art in the Heart program. Share your thoughts on the artwork by clicking on the second tab below. Art in the Heart is a temporary art program specifically designed to help stimulate conversations about themes like identity, community, inclusion, healing, unity, and resilience. It’s also a way to start conversations about how public spaces can, or don’t, help reflect or express a community’s past, present, and future.

You can find more background and information about the Pack Square Visioning Project here.

Asheville Asks: How do I get an issue addressed or find out about services in my neighborhood?

Our new Neighborhood Resources web page is a “one-stop-shop” resource to answer residents’ questions, from development projects to trash pick up. 

This webpage gives you quick access links to some of the most frequently requested community resources and information.

Residents have a variety of questions and opportunities to get involved, and having the answers and information all in one place empowers residents to stay informed and help the City make improvements that the community wants to see.

The Neighborhood Resources web page can be accessed at ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoodresources.

Did we miss something? Let us know how we can improve this page by contacting us at [email protected].

From 11/15 – 12/31, we’re offering a Holiday Special on our subscriptions! Get tickets at a discounted price, AND get a free ticket voucher for our next play, Native Gardens! Check our website on 11/15 to purchase this limited-time deal!

The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

Come see the Carl Sandburg Home be decorated for the holidays, tour the house to see the interior in its simple holiday style, and on three Saturdays in December, visitors can enjoy free demonstrations and craft making, including making a simple musical instrument, making and frosting gingerbread cookies and
making a birdseed ornament, Advance tickets recommended for home tour, Tickets at Recreation.gov, Tours at 11am, 1pm &
2pm and activities on Saturdays from 10am-1pm,

The Buncombe County Health Promotions Team requests feedback from residents to help inform strategies to improve our health priorities. Over the summer, Buncombe County’s latest Community Health Assessment was released. With the help of key informant surveys, community listening sessions, and existing data, the following health conditions were selected as a focus priority for the next three years: Birth Outcomes, Mental Health and Substance Misuse, and Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes).

We are now requesting community input to inform strategic planning for the upcoming Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The survey results will be used to determine how and what our community can do to address and improve Buncombe County’s health priorities. Let your voice be heard by taking the One Key Question Survey! All responses are anonymous.

We need participation from residents of Buncombe County to help us create a healthier community for everyone. Your response to the One Key Question Survey is essential to make Buncombe County a better place to call home.

So here’s the One Key Question:

What is the most important thing for you and your family’s health and well-being?

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER

Once you are finished answering our survey, spend a few minutes exploring the many functions of the page. You can track responses from other locals, read about our assessment process, and learn how we use your answers to create community change. Be sure to check the page regularly to stay current on our new surveys, meeting schedules, process updates, and more.